The Dark Academy on Korriban

Slyvain and Kristal took their speeder as close as they could to the location provided in his holopad. The air had grown noticeably thinner and Sylvain had his mask on as they got out of the speeder and looked up at the trek ahead of them.

"So... you had questions Kris?" He asked.

The sky is cloudy and the air is thin, the wind whips over the group as they park the speeder to traverse the last bit on foot. Carved stairs into the mountain lead up to the summit where the lab is built into a cliff side. Hopefully it is still there, sealed away under the ice and snow.

Kristal wore the mask secured for her by Sylvain, respirator connected to the belt on her hip. It was cold, very cold, but as long as they got inside soon enough it shouldn't be far too much of a problem. She hoped. Stepping away from the speeder she looked up to the path that was surprisingly still visible.

Ancient sword at her hip she looked toward their direction as she answered Sylvain, voice slightly muffled through the mask.

"Yes, how did you manage to learn of a station like this? I did not want to ask over the communicator because..." she paused for a moment and then finally turned to look to Sylvain.

"How could you have learned of an undiscovered location at the academy?"

He smiled under his mask, "Remember that bit of adventuring I did the day before last?"

He pulled an object out of his cloak with his hand and showed it to her, "I found this. A data mine of a Jedi's memory and Republic databases about Korriban."

He smiled, "I figured that knowledge about the enemy was about as useful as knowledge about some Sith lord. I asked you because I knew you'd know the utility of finding out information about our foe, that no one else has access to."

He looked up at the station, "I compared their geographic readouts to our own and found that this station had never been located by the Empire since the attack on Korriban."

His eyes glinted, "Shall we see what's inside?"

Kristal nodded to the first leading question. Looking curiously to the device he removed from his robes. Sylvain was accurate in his assessment, clear by Kristal interest in the matter. Every advantage over the enemy was just that. Learning how they operated could be as useful, or better, even far more useful than a far number of other Sith endeavors.

"I am surprised Sylvain," she admitted, "I had not realized your efforts were going toward something like this. Or your ability with slicing."

For it only made sense to Kristal that such information would have been protected by some kind of barrier at least.

With a nod Kristal turned back toward the stairs, "Let us push forward then. Get out of this cresting morning sun."

Sylvain smiled at her praise, "Thanks Kris. I live to serve the Empire." He said with a smile that was sure to have been quite handsome if it wasn't covered by his mask.

He then tilted his head, "Not so much slicing... It's a Jedi relic activated by the force. When activated the memories of a former Jedi Knight emerge as a hologram. It's an artifact you've probably heard of before called a Holocron. I've persuaded the Jedi into helping us, and while she is unsure of whether or not the codes will be the same, it's quite possible she'll be able to access much of whatever we find in there."

He then looked up their path, "We'll just need to find some location where she can get access and open the doors for us to see what's still functional."

"I am going to enjoy watching you die up here," the sith warrior laughed. Kristal could feel a dark side presence nearby but could not see it.

Kristal paused for a moment, it wasn't often she let herself just believe something she had thought true without evidence. This certainly made more sense. However it wasn't what she had imagined having happened. Not that it changed much, she was just... surprised at herself a bit.

Brushing it off she pushed forward, "Let us hope your friend can gain us access then. First we must get there, careful on the climb up the steps. I would not wish to speak of how Sylvain Torsin was felled by a thin sheet of ice," there was a cold humor to it.

"A moment," she asked for before taking a further step. Channeling the force for a moment to see what she could feel, what she could sense, and without fail... the light disrupted her sense. Perhaps, even, it was the other presence she felt that disrupted her connection.

Day 3 | Into the Frozen Deep | Force Roll: 1eF 2 Light Side

Sylvain ignored the voice. He had learned that he wasn't ready to defeat her yet... but soon he'd find a way to push her out.

Sylvain knew to trust Kristal's attuned senses, but seeing she was indecisive in where to go Sylvain decided to plunk forward along the road she mentioned.

He was confident that things would be alright as long as Kris was there beside him. One of the more comfortable feelings he could imagine at this moment in time.

"Nowhere to go but forward then I guess?"

Sylvain trudged carefully up the snowy surface with Kris.

"Agreed," she said after a quick moment of thought.

It was odd to her, that Sylvain seemed quiet after she had spoken before. That drew up a concern. Shaking it off she looked forward, right behind Sylvain. Making sure they made it up safely to the best of her ability.

Finding the entrance was not hard, it was a squat structure with what looked like a security field or forcefield for what was probably a hangar, not overly large maybe the size of a freighter. The entrance is about 20 meters wide and 8 meters tall, but now the interior is iced over and filled with snow.

There looks to be a door on the opposing side but covered in decades of ice.

The forcefield is not active snow everywhere but traversible.

Sylvain squints through the cold, "Looks like the hangar is the easier option unless you have some huge source of heat for that door."

He chuckled, "I could try and charm it into opening, but defrosting a frozen heart takes such a long time... like 10 years or so with you and your heart is only like 1/50th the size of that door."

He started to move forward, "Let's see if there's some type of access point somewhere in the hangar, or a entrance into the main facility."

The duo spot an access terminal once they wipe away the snow and thin sheen of ice. The screen powers to life once touched, it’s in Basic but looks to be of Republic design. Looks like a maintenance system for servicing ships.

Sylvain looks at the terminal and pulls out the Holocron. "This looks like a good time for you to meet Thy."

He looked over, "Be polite. She's a bit unorthodox, even for a Jedi."

He focused in on the Holocron and opened it via the Force.

Thy forms as a small hologram and said in a mock robotic voice, “I am Jedi personal assistant Thy for all your dark lord needs. I will kick kittens, no… not really. I like kittens.”

“Oh you must be Kristal, Hi. You are very pretty, I can see why Sylvain pines about you. I can see from my systems we have made it to the research lab, connect the thinga-majig to the thingy over there and I can see what I can do.”

Sylvain's eyes bug open for a moment when Thy reveals his secret.

"I do no..." He stops himself a bit, "See if I tel..." His face goes a bit redder than it already was due to the cold. He pulls out the connecting implement and connects the two devices together.

"Layouts, locations of possible important repositories of information or objects, purpose of the station, security obstacles. Anything you can Thy." He said with a bit more composure, though he was unable to look at Kristal yet.

"Roger, roger," she starts working.

Sylvain looks timidly over to Kristal, "See? I told you she was interesting."

His voice was a bit more apprehensive than normal.

"If only I had a lightsaber," she remarked. It would have certainly helped a great deal in this situation. Oh well, they were raised to be soldiers they would simply have to make due.

There was a thought to comment, but instead she just shook her head. Kristal never thought she was that cold, but then the person in question rarely ever realized such things.

Standing just aside as Sylvain called up the holocron, and by that the Jedi residing within. Kristal watched in a bit of amusement, a little wonder as well. Never had she seen a holocron activated. This was the first and though she didn't quite show it, watching the process was new and by that gained at least a little interest.

With the little revelation, Kristal merely looked confused. "Pines?" she asked at a volume that was usually reserved for oneself, possibly to the detriment of the poor boys composure.

Sylvain shrugged, "If speaking respectfully about your friend is pining?"

He may not have sounded entirely convincing.

“Got it… oh my… my codes work. Even better my codes… oh… Master Xe’fi! So much death!” she exclaims.

“There is only peace,” she says to herself after a long moment. “Master Xe’fi is one with the force.” The lights buzz to life and the force field activates cutting through the snow. Internal heating begins to work.

Sylvain nodded his head, "Darth Malgus is a powerful lord of the Sith. I'm sure your master fought valiantly even if he did not succeed."

He then paused to look around. "Great job Thy. So what is this place?"

Malgus? Xe'fi? Certainly there was some connection between thoughts here but Kristal wasn't made aware of it. Just what she could reasonably extrapolate on her own. Questions for later perhaps, when they had the moment.

Pacing the area in which they stood, Kristal looked to the holocron. Wondering, thinking. Giving the internal heating system it's time to warm up the hanger there was plenty to now spend on curiosity.